I'm still dwelling on how things went south the other day. I still can't wrap my head around that sociopathic woman's deal. Why doesn't she like me? It's not like I give a damn, but I still can't get her out of my head. That smile... Damn it.
As I'm leaving HQ and heading down the stairs, I run into Han Tae-oh, my best friend since high school. He's my age, but it's like he stopped growing up at fifteen. He looks at me with that smug smirk that makes me want to punch his face in. I almost aim for the nose.
"Hey, big shot. How'd it go?" he asks, trailing after me. "Man, every department is talking about the mess you made back there. You walked in all high and mighty as usual, but this time you got wrecked. Who's the legend that stood up to you? I wanna buy that person a beer."
He won't stop laughing, and I have to take a deep breath. The jerk is right, though. I look at him and keep it real: "It wasn't a total disaster. I managed to reschedule, so it wasn't a complete waste. Now drop it."
I say this as I pull my car keys from my pocket. He stares at me, asks if I'm down for a drink, and before I can even open my mouth, he snatches the keys from my hand and hops into the driver's seat. I don't even argue and just get into the passenger side; he clearly wanted me to pick a fight. He gives me a crooked grin and pulls out of the lot.
As we're heading out of Jongno, I'm staring out the window. It starts to rain, and the sky looks like it's about to pour. Tae-oh sees the rain and gets the "brilliant" idea to roll down my window just to get me wet. I seriously hate this guy. I'm soaked instantly and smack him on the back of the head. He's dying of laughter, rolls the window back up, and mutters, "My bad, it was an accident."
Just as I'm about to get him back, he pulls up in front of a bar and gets out. I catch the typical scent of Yeonnam food, but we're standing in front of a place I've never seen. It's a bit exotic for the neighborhood. I look for Tae-oh, but the guy's already inside talking to a girl. They kiss. Great. The idiot brought me along to be a third wheel.
I walk in and intentionally shoulder-check him, just so he knows he's a jerk. I sit at the bar on a high stool and look around. The layout is ridiculous—tables and chairs all crammed together, you can barely move. Old music and the smell of home cooking fill the place. Tae-oh sits next to me and introduces the girl: Choi Mi-rae. He says they're seeing each other—as if the kiss hadn't made that crystal clear.
"I brought you here to help with the sales, since you're a hopeless drunk anyway," he teases. I don't even argue because it's true.
I shrug, and Mi-rae shouts toward the back: "Yeong-su, I brought us some new customers!"
My blood runs cold. No way. It's got to be someone else. It's definitely not her. But it is. I look at her and blurt out, unable to help myself: "What? The demon?"
The few people in the bar all turn to stare at me at once. She measures me from head to toe with a look of pure disgust. "Who the hell are you?"
I'm speechless. I think about telling her I'm the guy whose life she almost ruined. I see a glint in her eyes and her lips curl into a smile: "Oh, I get it. I remember now," she says, adding: "The incompetent failure."
I glare at her with pure rage, ready to snap back, but Tae-oh jumps in to play mediator and orders a Somaek.